Archie is the 'real loser' after Prince Harry confirmed he will attend King Charles' Coronation alone, a royal expert has said.
Buckingham Palace has today said it is pleased to announce that Harry will be there on May 6 for the historic event but Meghan will stay in California with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Harry, who laid bare his troubled relationship with the royal family in his controversial Netflix documentary and autobiography Spare, will be alongside other family members including his estranged brother Prince William and wife Kate.
The announcement now ends months of speculation about whether or not the couple would be at the Coronation, which falls on the same day as Archie's fourth birthday.
Ingrid Seward, editor in chief of Majesty magazine and royal biographer, has said it's a shame that three-year-old Archie has been 'denied' a look at the ceremony.
Ingrid believes Harry's decision to come to the Coronation without his wife will not have been easy, but she could have been the 'driving force' behind it.
"Harry’s decision to come to the coronation without Meghan won’t have been easy," she said.
"Harry and Meghan are an emotional unit. He lacks confidence without her and is more suspicious when she is not at his side. Harry needed to and he wanted to come to the Coronation.
"The invitation clearly says, ‘By Command of the King’. Harry was in the military and his allegiance is to his King. The King also happens to be his father.
"For all his bravado Harry knows that if he didn’t appear it would be a terrible snub. He might have been cut off for ever and brand Sussex couldn’t afford to lose the royal fairy dust.
"I suspect Meghan was the driving force in persuading Harry to attend.
"She is smarter than him and would have realised it might mean the end of their future dreams if he didn’t appear.
"However pathetic when you have a team of helpers, Meghan can still use the excuse of Archie’s 4th birthday to avoid crossing the Atlantic to be ridiculed, by both the royal family and the Brits.
"Why should she bother. For a girl who makes a huge fuss about which table she has in a restaurant it would be a terrible insult not to have one of the top seats at the coronation ceremony.
"To add to this possibility the disgrace being excluded from the Buckingham Palace balcony line-up was more than she could bear.
"Now Meghan can play the martyr if she pleases. Certainly, the rest of Harry’s family especially Kate and William will be delighted she is not there. King Charles and Queen Camilla will also be mighty relieved.
"The real loser is little Archie. How exciting it would have been to see the soldiers, carriages and horses of his grandfather’s armies. What a shame he was denied the opportunity however hard for his parents."
The Palace said in a statement: "Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that the Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6th May.
"The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet."
